


Welcome, User

by beyoncesshoe



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Heavy Angst, I'm going to drag them all through hell I swear 2 god, M/M, Mystery, No Sex, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rick wakes up from his coma and it isn't fun, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes, Tags May Change, and it isn't what everyone thinks, no character or ship bashing, not finished, starts off with Rick and eventually the whole family joins in, the Alexandrian citizens are in here but not like and why you think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 18:33:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6340639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyoncesshoe/pseuds/beyoncesshoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick Grimes, a number of times, has asked himself what he would do if he awoke one day to find out that everything from the day he rose from his coma was nothing but a dream. He never expected that question to be answered. At least, not answered by an interrupted kiss with a bullet in his skull, and an automatic voice congratulating him for surviving the W.C. apocalypse simulation founded by W.C. Labs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome, User

 

[AUTOMATIC RECORDING][BEGIN TUTORIAL]

Welcome, to project WALKING CADAVER (W.C). Today, you will be reviewed on the history of WC and will meet subject #1 and review the workings of C. dosage. I will be your guide. Please, hold all your questions for when the tutorial ends.

[AD DISPLAY: WC IS FUNDED BY COCA-COLA, PEPSI, C.D.C, AT&T, ETC.][CLICK :MORE: FOR FURTHER LIST]

WC’s first creators were inspired by the results of the end of WW2 after statistics showed an impressively large amount of bodies that were involved with treason, the creators of WC were challenged to fix such problems. After years of ideas and theories, Deanna Monroe, the main founder, had met a breakthrough. Following this came the first batch of C (Cadaver) dosage.

[SHOW: C. DOSAGE IN SYRINGE]

  1. dosage is a chemical created by Dr. Denise Cloyd (government approved and monitored to full extent) that puts the subject in a medically induced coma simulation where they are put through multiple challenges that tests their knowledge, strength, and loyalty.



All patients admitted have first experienced head injuries, leaving them unconscious and in perfect state to be set in the simulation without knowledge of doing so. All subjects have no knowledge of ever being subjected to C. dosage.

*   
dosage simulation is based on the apocalypse of an untameable disease leaving reanimated corpses to rise. Challenging the belief and sanity of the subject is the first test. After, the subject will be trained in every way possible as it goes through its hardships.   


The simulation is monitored at all times, however, nothing can be done if the subject dies in simulation. They cannot be re-entered, and if simulation ends earlier than ready, they are transferred off to finish their training in a remote-location off the coast of the Pacific. 

[SHOW: EXAMPLE: SUBJECT #6 (LORETTA GRIMES) :DECEASED:, SUBJECT #7 (SHANE WALSH) :DECEASED:, SUBJECT #11 (HERSHEL GREENE) :DECEASED:, SUBJECT #17 (SOPHIA PELETIER) :DECEASED:, SUBJECT #16 (ANDREA HARRISON) :DECEASED:, SUBJECT #45 (PHILIP BLAKE) :DECEASED:][CLICK :MORE: FOR FURTHER LIST]

Not all subjects survive dying in simulation, the stress in their mind too great, leaving their bodies to fail as they exit project W.C.

All bodies are incinerated to prevent C. Dosage from being harvested and spread.

Now, to the first subject.

[SHOW: SUBJECT #1 NAME: RICHARD GRIMES SEX: M AGE: 42][TIME UNDER SIMULATION: 1.04.3.1.5.46.39. (1.3945 YEARS /=/ 509 DAYS)]

Subject #1 is the first to undergo C. Dosage. Subject was in coma prior to serum. Subject’s body showed no retaliation to C. and is progressing tremendously.

[SHOW: EXAMPLE: SUBJECT #47 (MILTON MAMET):, SUBJECT #128 (CAESAR MARTINEZ)]

When subjects show complete and loyal functioning (for the right cause), they are pulled forcefully out of simulation and are separated, transferred to base off coast, where they over-go a series of mental tests, continuous physical training, and monitored by two teams. When each subject is believed ready, Founder Deanna Monroe arrives to oversee them personally and decide whether to continue training or draft them into S.S.

[SHOW: SLIDESHOW: SUBJECT #1 WITH SUBJECT #67 (DARYL DIXON):, SUBJECT #4 (GLENN RHEE):, SUBJECT #40 (MICHONNE ANTHONY)][SHOW: SUBJECT #1’S CURRENT STATE: (LIVE FEED):::: SUBJECT #1 WITH SUBJECT #67, SPLIT FROM REST-- (ON WATCH)-- TIME ON (WATCH): 1 HOUR. 08 MINUTES. 12 SECONDS]

Subject #1 has an estimated amount of 47 days until immediate retrieval. Subject #18 (Carol Peletier) will also be retrieved simultaneously.

[END SLIDE]

THANK YOU, for joining us today and choosing to sharing your time with W.C. Please follow your attendant, who will be taking you to where our C. dosage is produced as your first stop in this tour. All questions will be answered by them, have a nice day!

[END TUTORIAL]

**_____**

**:::**

  
  


“Uh,” A voice wavers in hesitance. “Ma'am. We have ah, a problem.”

  
“What is it?”

“Subject one and sixty-seven is… estimated to intersect with group number forty-two in a matter of minutes.”

“ _ What _ ? Damn it.” Jessie Anderson, clad in formal work wear, leans over the young man’s shoulders to look at the screen below him. “Is there anyway we can veer them off course?”

“No.”

“ _ Find _ a way.” Jessie presses. “Deanna specifically said that we  _ cannot _ lose him before it’s time. Is that clear?”

“Yes ma’am… but-”

“-No buts. We can’t lose him.”

“Ma’am.” Another voice speaks up. “We can’t send them off by herd without having interference with group number one. There’s no telling the backlash it would have on them. Natural causes is out of the question, effect wouldn’t take place until after confrontation between them.”

Jessie pinches at the bridge of her nose. “Get me a direct line to Deanna Monroe, let Team Seven know they’re about to have in-comings, demand immediate extraction. Retrieve group forty-two.”

“Yes ma’am.”

There is a buzz of aware chatter in the room, multiple bodies fluttering about.

“Time?”

“Eleven minutes till intersection. Fifteen until retrieval.”

“No.” Jessie struts to view over subject sixty-seven and one’s screens. “That isn’t good enough. We need them out. Get in contact with those watching over group forty-two, I want to know  _ why _ we weren’t informed of their whereabouts near group one!”

“Ma-”

“I know.” Jessie digs her hands into the seat hosting the young woman viewing subject sixty-seven. “You’re trying, I know. But we need them out of their line of fire,  _ now _ !”

“Line with Deanna Monroe secured, Mrs. Anderson. Would you like me to hold her?”

“No,” Jessie walks away to the end of the long desk with the phone, grabbing the receiver and pressing the button to Deanna. “We have a a problem.”

“ _ What is it? _ ” Deanna asks.

“Subject one and subject sixty-seven are to intersect with group twenty-two in ten minutes.”

“ _ Handle it _ .”

Jessie swallows. “Deanna…” She loses formality. “Group twenty-two is known to stir up problems, and there isn’t enough time to-”

“ _ -Mrs. Anderson, are you telling me we’re going to lose him? _ ”

“It’s a possibility.” She squeezes her eyes shut.

“ _ I trusted you with this, personally. It’s why I gave you this job. We’ve had one too many close calls, I passed off the last one since it was your first offense. _ ”

“I know.” Jessie recalls the run in just days ago, when group thirty, or as they nicknamed them ‘Claimers’, almost killed the three under her supervision. She had only been watching these subject for six days.

“ _ I’m disappointed in you. It’d be in all of our best interests if he survives. _ ” There’s a shuffle at the end of the line. “ _ I’ll be there within twenty minutes, have the team watching over twenty-two there as well. Retrieve them. _ ”

“Already on it.” There’s a click, the phone call over.

Jessie’s breathing shudders as she puts the phone down, turning to walk back to view over the subjects. “Are they still in the same position?”

“Yes, sitting in front of the stairs of the Church.”

“Good. If there’s a scuffle, other subjects might wake. Are any inside awake currently?”

“Just number 4.” The worker over said number waves from down the line of screens. “He’s waiting for-”

“Oh  _ shit _ .” Both operators over one and sixty-seven cut in at the same time, their stunned faces looking between each other and the screens.

“What is it?” Jessie demands, alarmed, nerves skyrocketing. All attention is on them.

“They uh…” Operator over sixty-seven rubs her neck, blushing. She looks to her peer.

“Kissed, ma’am.” He finishes for her, clearing his throat, looking equally flustered.

“ _ What _ ?” Jessie blurts, coming closer, looking at the screen in shock.

“They-”

“I heard you.” She says dully.

The room is silent, until it isn’t.

There’s laughter from down the line. “I  _ knew _ it! Man I knew those two were-”

“Shut up.” Someone else hisses. “Now is  _ not _ the time!”

“No,” Jessie says loud. “It’s not. How much time do we have left?”

“Five minutes.”

Jessie watches as the two subjects who have stolen the eye of the crowd sit close together, feeling foolish for not noticing their affection for eachother before. She thinks about the oncoming group, the one about to possibly ruin everything. She thinks about how this is possibly her last day on site, knowing that losing the subject Deanna had the highest hopes for was about to play out before them. This was her biggest failure.

But for some reason, what Jessie finds the most saddening, is that she’s about to watch this newly blossomed romance come to an end. She looks at everyone under her command piled behind her, watching the two on separate screens. She doesn’t have the strength to send them back to their own monitors. 

“God help them.” She hears an older woman from behind mutter in sympathy, the one she knows who watches over subject twelve.

Jessie can’t help but agree.

 

**_____**

**:::**

  
  


Daryl pulls back from their kiss with a sharp inhale, eyes wide. Rick can’t help but feel a sudden rush of fear at the broken contact and his reaction, not wanting for this to end. His mouth is tingling and his lungs feel like they’re about to burst, he feels  _ alive _ .

Rick leans forward again, unable to control himself. Wanting, _ needing _ to feel that rush again. That burning sensation of  _ living _ . He’s pressing back into Daryl, eyes closed and mouth burning as they reconnect. And every part of Rick sings with joy when he feels  _ Daryl kiss back _ .

He brings a hang to loop in the back of Daryl’s hair, which Rick regrets, for it breaks Daryl out of the haze and he’s pulling back from their kiss yet again. He’s heaving, mouth agape and eyes still so wide he can see the whites.

They were on watch, maybe about an hour in. Daryl and he sat in comfortable silence, enjoying their company with each other. It’d been a long time since they’ve had a moment like this. Something Rick didn’t realize how much he had missed, had  _ craved _ . Craved these moments, craved  _ Daryl _ .

Daryl had been watching the trees with narrowed blue eyes, body relaxed. Rick, in that moment, scanned him over. He tried to convince himself that it was just for any bumps or bruises… but when Daryl’s attention had shifted back to him, those narrow eyes softening to show their bright blue… Rick had  _ wanted _ . Wanted  _ Daryl. _

The flex of his muscles as he reached out to grip Rick on the shoulder, eyes never straying from Rick’s own. Rick had felt his mouth dry, the powerful need to just… lean over and…  _ anything _ .

They’ve had plenty of near moments like this. Moments that ended with either being interrupted or one of them brushing it off. Moments where Rick or Daryl leaned in, ending with an awkward clear of a throat and hot cheeks.

Rick never thought much on it, foolishly believed they would have enough time for whatever they had to grow and blossom on its own course, though Lori was a perfect example to prove that that is never the case. Time is not on their side.

Of course he had seen the stray eyes from Daryl, the hooded hot looks at him that no one was meant to see, even himself.

He had also seen the ones bright and full of admiration, full of care and support.

Rick finally,  _ finally _ , has had enough of it. Finally done with lusting from afar, yearning for that intense and loving emotional connection. He thought he lost Daryl, lost him just like he lost everyone else. And to have him back… Rick couldn’t begin to describe the happiness he felt from that. Rick would not let this go, wouldn’t miss his chance. There definitely is lust between them, but Rick won’t deny the underlining of something else.

It was their first night at the Church, first official night with the new additions. He was so glad to have all his family back, to know that they were alive and safe, and to see his daughter…  _ oh god _ . 

He didn’t allow himself to think about it, about losing her. Pressing the image of her bloodied carrier far into the back of his mind that only surfaced in his dreams.

To see her alive, the painful relief and unbridled joy was overwhelming.

Rick was still, granted, wary about the new members of their family, However, given their experience with them in Terminus, he’s definitely willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. He’s not sure about Gabriel though, something about him rubs him the wrong way.

And he just... Looking at Daryl, feeling such an overwhelming sense of warmth yet again, something that began to take over when they were back in the prison. It was so damn good to have him back, so good to have that sense of security that Daryl brought with him. He’d been shocked to see Daryl, with those men. But it didn’t matter, they were dead and gone and Daryl was alive and warm and  _ here _ .

“ _ You’re my brother. _ ” Is possibly the biggest lie he’s ever told. Daryl was more than that. So much more to Rick.

“What?” Rick murmurs, looking Daryl in the eye for a few seconds before Daryl drops his gaze, a quick flicker to his lips that sends Rick’s heart pounding.

“Just.” Daryl waves a hand between them. “This-” He chews on his bottom lip, placing his hands in his lap.

“ _ This _ ,” Rick says, not letting Daryl lie to him, lie to  _ himself _ . “Was overdue.”

“ _ This _ was  _ just  _ a kiss.” Daryl’s voice is low, hard to hear. He rushes out the last word, won’t look at Rick in the eye, he keeps them glued to the ground beneath them. “S'all there is to it.” Like the word meant nothing. Like it was just some toy to be tossed around. He absentmindedly brings his hand to his mouth, gnawing at the peeling skin on his thumb.

“No.” Rick shakes his head, tilting his view to try and catch his eyes. Daryl looks at him now, alerted by the hard girth in his voice. Daryl can’t look away now that Rick has him under his careful stare. “ _ No _ ,” he repeats, laughing humorlessly. He won’t let this be passed off, refuses it. Folding his hands, he continues; “It’s more than that.” Because it  _ was _ more than that. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was so much more. What they shared… It was something more than lips meeting lips. Wasn’t some chaste thing that could be laughed off, with a shrug and a shove, forget it ever happened. It just wasn’t that. Wasn’t that simple. It was something more than what he ever saw in TV shows or movies, that could never truly be displayed… something that he knew he had once for Lori. Something so long ago, he almost forgot what it was like...

Yet, here it is now, something he never thought or even considered he would ever feel again. That intense look of pride and pure adornment when you look into their eyes, the heavy thump of a heart when you walk side by side, the unbreakable trust and loyalty you feel when you turn away from them, knowing that they’re always watching, always protecting. The sense of protected, trusted, safe,  _ home _ .

Daryl and he, they were equals. They had each other's back. He trusted not only his own life, but his children’s life, in his hands.

They were  _ partners. _ And it means so much more than what Shane had ever been.

And it hurts Rick to think this, to think of how Shane would never amount to what Daryl was to him now. How even before all this happened, he couldn’t even begin to put as much faith in Shane as he could with Daryl. And it hurts so much, because he misses Shane. Misses him so much that he hates the man even more for it. Because it isn’t fair, isn’t fair how he had to kill Shane. Isn’t fair that he had to lose him in more ways than one.

It hurts to think of Lori, too. He didn’t just lose her by the shot to her head, but in the same ways he lost Shane. Lost them both as friends and family before in death. Lori was his wife, a woman he loved fiercely, and still does, but not in the same way he used to. He wishes she was here, to see this all. How they all have some sense of security now, a sense of belonging, how they all seem to have a twinkle in their eyes now, even Rick. He wishes she could see how well they’re starting to do, how Judith and Carl are making him so proud. Lori would finally see that this life for their children  _ is  _ worth living, with the care and support of their family… It was worth it. It was doable. It wasn’t a fantasy dream. Rick just wishes she was here to see it.

But she’s not here, and neither is Shane. And Rick's positive he himself  wouldn’t be either if not for the man on his side.

Hell, Judith might not even be here if not for him. And it makes him sick to think about how he couldn’t even  _ look  _ at her that day he walked back in the cell block. Couldn’t get over the dread feeling of  _ Lori’s gone, and she’s not my child. _

He knows Lori would understand, even if she did resent him more for neglecting their child in the end. She would, no matter what, would  _ always _ understand-- if in her own way. She loved him, he knows that. She would understand his hesitancy to raise their children in fear of them becoming like him, would even understand the love he feels for Daryl.

He owes so much to Daryl, tried so many times to make it up to him. To show him his worth, because he was so grateful. He  _ had  _ to know he was much more than what life taught him to be, that he was  _ family _ .

He just didn’t plan on  _ this  _ happening in the process.

Daryl clears the back of his throat and Rick realizes as the glassy look in the eyes begins to fade and he’s finally coming back from his thoughts, that he’s been openly staring at him. Daryl has his eyebrows pinched together, chewing on his bottom lip in what Rick's sure is concern.

Rick sighs and forces himself to look away, shoulders sagging in sudden emotional exhaustion.

Rick runs a hand down his face, eyes burning. He sees Daryl slouch besides him, wiping his hands on his torn jeans slowly, settling his elbows on his knees to support him as he sags forward.

He is tired too.

“Do you regret it?” Rick can’t help but ask, some dark part of his mind taunting him with the fear of rejection. Rick is not a man who lingers on regrets long, they eat at you, tear you apart. He’s been through enough regret to last forever and then some. It nearly got himself killed last time, and it wasn’t just himself he was living for, the rude awakening of Judith’s screams were a reminder of that of that.

He presses closer to Daryl, testing. Accurately aware of the way the man tenses for the briefest of moments before he leans into Rick himself, relaxed and warm. He supports himself with one elbow now, the one not touching Rick so he can lean closer. Knees and hips pressed together, radiating a slow burn that has Rick’s pulse kicking up in speed.

Daryl doesn’t answer, and that’s all Rick needs to know.

He presses more into Daryl, his hand slithering between them to rest on one of Daryl’s that has slid back to his thigh, palm facing up. He gives it a few playful taps, leaving his hand loose to rest on it, fingers barely falling between Daryl’s own.

Daryl doesn’t move for what seems like forever, except for his noticeably forced slow breathing that shakes his own chest. It’s with slow, calculated movements that Daryl begins to curl his fingers into Rick’s, though he himself leaves his own hand lax.

Talk, Lori had always wanted him to talk more. He gets it now, finally starting to understand, that if he doesn't, he’ll lose more than he’s willing to.

He knows Daryl. If Rick keeps silent and tame, ignores this ever happened, Daryl won’t say a word. His eyes will say enough, but he’ll never speak the words. It’s all up to Rick.

“I don’t regret it.” Rick says, feeling Daryl’s hand twitch. He doesn’t, remembering the untamable impulse to lean over and kiss Daryl on the lips. Remembering the shock on Daryl’s face when he pulled away, remembers how Daryl  _ kissed back _ when he couldn’t help but press them together just one more time.

It’s the new world. Labels mean so little out here to him now. What this is doesn’t need a word, that died out the moment the dead had risen to raise hell.

“Me neither.” Daryl admits quietly, eyes downcast and lip between his teeth. Rick saw the hope that had lit his face for just a mere few seconds before Daryl’s own self loathing squashed it to ashes. Rick can only bite his cheek, hoping that Daryl can’t hear the loud increase of his heart. He understood what just those two words  _ really  _ meant.

Daryl  _ wants this _ . Wants  _ him.  _ Such a simple confession can hold so much more meaning behind it. He knows it must have taken a lot to had laid himself out like that, and Rick can't help but give him a soft grin. 

He feels his cheeks burn.  _ Daryl wants me. _

“Than why are you fightin’ me?”

Daryl looks honestly confused at his question, chewing harder on his bottom lip, looking to their joined hands. “Ain't.”

“Yes you are. What are you afraid of?” Because it doesn’t matter that he has his quiet confession and hand in his, he still tried to brush off what they had and he  _ needs  _ to know why. Daryl knows there’s something between them, now he needs to know why Daryl tried to blow off what they had to “just a kiss” like they were just two teens fooling around.

It seems to click, with what Rick means, and that has Daryl squeezing his hand till their bones grind, fixating him with a vulnerable stare that seems to last forever.

A stare that screams  _ why me? Why me? Why me? Why? Why? Why? What do you see? See in me? _

Rick feels his chest ache. Daryl doesn’t have to say a word, he knows. “I want you.” He says with such certainty, so sure, that Daryl can’t possibly doubt it. 

Daryl’s chest shudders and his lips part, and the silent hope that lights in his eye’s once again leaves Rick feeling oddly broken yet wired with excited energy. Like a kid on Christmas morning, he can feel his body buzzing pleasantly with the promise of nothing but good things.

“Why?” Daryl asks finally, eyes squinted in question. His insecurities laid bare.

_ Because you’ve saved me countless times, in more ways than one, stepped up and become the lean shoulder I needed when I dropped so far down I never thought I’d come back up. Because without you, we wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be here, my family wouldn’t be here. Because there's no one else I trust like I do you, because no one else trusts me like you do, and when everyone looked to me with fear, you looked to me with understandment. Because you make me happy, make me feel things I’d never thought I’d experience again. _

_ Because you’re you. _

He loves Daryl. Daryl loves him. He won’t say it out loud, not for a long time. Neither will Daryl. He might not be in love with him, but he knows damn sure he’s close. He knows that one day, he could and  _ can  _ be in love with this man. He  _ wants  _ to.

So he gives him a look, a look just as open and fragile as the one Daryl had given him and he inhales so sharply Rick finally overlaps his fingers on Daryl’s in some sort of attempt to steady him.

Rick reaches his free hand to cup Daryl on the nape of his neck, fingers running through the hair at the base. He brings their foreheads together, closing his eyes and breathing in time with Daryl. “Do you want this?” He murmurs, already knowing the answer, but needing to hear it.

“I’m here, ain’t I?”

And that was all he needed.

And as Rick presses his lips to Daryl once again, heart thundering up a storm and blood rushing like a river, he forgets. He forgets about all his pain, his failure, and doubt. Forgets about the deadened forest around them, nightmares moaning as their background orchestra.

He remembers now instead. Remembers the good, everything that made this life worth it. Let’s himself believe this is the start of something new, starts to feel something like…..

Hope.

He remembers the good perfectly clear, ingrained in his mind so he'll never forget because sometimes the good memories are all you have left. He remembers what it's like to hope. To feel that shining in your chest. He remembers his family’s complete faith in him, remembers Carl’s proud smile, Judith’s laugh… Daryl’s rough and gentle lips...

Remembers all this just as he hears the click of the gun pressed to his temple.

Daryl rips back, eyes wide with something not unlike horror, and Rick only manages to register him lurching forward before he hears a loud bang, followed by an unbearable hot pain starting from the back of his head, then nothing.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It’s within that last moment that Rick Grimes finally realizes that death has finally caught up to him.

  
  


Rick Grimes is dead, and if asked, Rick wouldn’t deny the fact that he deserved such a fate.

 

...

 

Even if it was unfair.

 

**_____**

**:::**


End file.
